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UK - The leafy environs and mock-Tudor mansions of the Surrey stockbroker belt are home to more than a few rock and pop stars and music industry moguls. It's also home to an ambitious fledgling loudspeaker manufacturer which is starting to raise eyebrows in the industry.

Operating out of a converted fire station, Instigate Media and its loudspeaker division EM Acoustics were set up in 2002 by partners Ed Kinsella and Mike Wheeler on their graduation from Cambridge and Imperial College universities respectively.

"While at University, we were both quite extensively involved with sound systems one way and another and it seemed to us that people should be able to get elegant, acoustically excellent loudspeakers without breaking the bank," says Wheeler. "We didn't want

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USA - This year's Super Bowl halftime show certainly surpassed its predecessors in terms of memorable images - and some of the best had nothing to do with a certain 'wardrobe malfunction'. Incorporated into the staging design by Mark Fisher Studios' production team, 76 Versa TILE units from Element Labs provided visual support for the lighting design by LD Allen Branton. "The Versa TILEs were phenomenal," says lighting director Christian Choi. "They worked out great. Allen and I were really impressed with their performance."

The Versa TILEs lit up eight sections of stage along the perimeter of the stage riser. Half of them were eight panels wide, at 40 pixels wide and five pixels high, and the other half consisted of 11 panels, at 55 pixels wide and five pixels high. Choi used Adobe After Effects software to create custom content, which he matched pixel by p

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UK - Five prime window sites at Harrods used leading-edge audio-visual technology to promote the new cinema production of Peter Pan. The film, directed by PJ Hogan with Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed as executive producer, opened to great critical acclaim on 26 December.

Previews of the film were projected onto a series of floating Holo Screens - supplied by Danish company dnp through its UK distributor Paradigm Audio Visual - providing transparent suspended visualization, perfect for the theming of the windows. The whole idea had been the brainchild of WOW Factors' Mark Jones, who had demonstrated the Holo Screen technology to Al Fayed 12 months earlier.

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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

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UK - Following the resurrection of RCF Spa by Arturo Vicari, the company will be exhibiting at the at ISCEx 2004 exhibition, which is being held at the Watford Moat House in Watford on Tuesday, 24 February. RCF's Phil Price explained the reason for such an early move back into the public domain: "ISCE 2004 gives us the opportunity to meet with key people within the commercial audio systems sector. It will give them an opportunity to see that RCF is firmly back in the UK. We will of course be showing the new updates to the Monitor Series, Monitor 33, 44 and 55, which now include a multi-purpose wall bracket. We will also show some examples from the Commercial Audio catalogue such as the PL80A and PL81A high quality, easy-install ceiling speakers, plus some presentations on our RX3000 Digital PA Controlled Zone Paging System."

Price added: "Customers should note tha

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UK - Top country band Brooks & Dunn have purchased a High End Systems Catalyst v3 Media Server to add high-tech visual effects to their Red Dirt Road tour, which kicked off in the US yesterday. The Catalyst v3 Media Server combines lighting with digital media and allows the content to be manipulated in endless ways. "I'm excited about using the Catalyst system," LD Larry Boster says. "I know it will be a major tool for me. It's a whole different avenue of creativity."

High End Systems' Mike Hanson worked with the duo at Ronnie Dunn's high-tech barn, where they played with Catalyst and digital images prior to production rehearsals. Joining in were video director Chris Keating (U2, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue) and B&D veteran video engineer Mike Bischof, both of whom are on the tour.

Hanson demonstrated the new features of Catalyst v3 software, such as the abi

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UK - Tyco Integrated Systems (TIS), a division of Tyco Fire & Security, has installed a specially designed PA and emergency messaging system to help Marks & Spencer operate more efficiently and communicate with both its staff and customers in one of its major retail stores. This retail PA system is one of the most advanced of its type and features multiple-zone voice messaging facilities with pre-recorded emergency and general messages, staff call stations and background music in selected areas such as the CD sales area.

The system was especially designed by TIS to meet the needs of the new Castle Point store in Bournemouth and follows TIS's success in providing PA systems to many other large retail stores including some 22 other Marks & Spencer stores throughout the UK. It includes 130 ceiling speakers and 13 wall speakers across six zones on several floors. Each zone is indepe

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Sweden - "Capture is developed by lighting designers for lighting designers," says Lasse Berg, one of the creators of the innovative Swedish lighting software.

If you haven't heard of Capture before, it may be because its two founders, Berg and Lars Wernlund, have largely kept their heads down for the past 11 years, putting their energies into developing Capture to its current level. In that time, the two lighting designers have based their product on three major philosophies, as Berg explains: "We want the program to behave as we as LDs would like to see it; it has to be highly competent and user friendly, and finally, the users are the best developers."

When Berg and Wernlund joined forces in 1993, they had two things in common - lighting design and computers. "We also belonged to the enlightened members of the world who used a computer called Amiga,

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USA - Sound systems featuring Funktion One, MC2 Audio and XTA Electronics products have been installed in two new US night venues, in New York and Las Vegas. Both systems were designed by Dan Agne of Sound Investment.

Cielo, in New York, has been described as a 'techno log cabin'. It's loudspeaker system - Funktion One's AX-88 and F218 speakers along with a pair of its Infrabass subwoofer cabs - is driven by MC2 Audio's T2000 and MC1250 amplifiers, with control from an XTA DP226 digital system controller.

Way out west, meanwhile, Ice is the newest night venue in Las Vegas, and aims to maintain an emphasis on music: with this in mind, the 30ft x 30ft main floor features a four-point Dance Stack Ultra speaker system from Funktion One, with MC2 Audio's T2000 and T1500 amplifiers driving the mids and highs, control by four XTA DP226s.

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UK - Soundcraft's flagship multipurpose live performance desk, the MH4, has become even more versatile thanks to the introduction of a new version of its mono input module. The new input expands the use of the aux buses by adding true mono/stereo configurations to take maximum advantage of the desk's 16 auxiliary buses, giving configurations of 16 mono, 12 mono/2 stereo or 8 mono/4 stereo mixes.

The MH4 has become widely adopted because of its ability to handle even the most demanding live sound mixing, and for its capacity to operate as a fully-featured FOH or monitor desk, or as a combination of both. This new aux function makes the multi-mode desk even more flexible than previously thought possible. The updated module now ships as standard in MH4s, and existing consoles may be upgraded through the purchase of new modules.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Soundcra

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UK - For two days in late March the final year students of the Technical and Production Arts Course at the RSAMD will be exhibiting a broad range of their work from their three years of study in the Chandler Studio Theatre.

This year, in tandem with the Graduate Exhibition, the college is also launching its Sponsors' Trade show. During the same two days in March the New Athenaeum Theatre will be turned over to RSAMD's industry sponsors and suppliers enabling them to demonstrate and discuss their most recent equipment and products with prospective clients and visitors to the Academy. Companies such as Autograph Sales, VLPS Lighting Services, Rope Assemblies, Crosby Europe, Rosco, Zero 88 and Lyon Equipment Ltd will be talking part.

This is an opportunity for people to meet the RSAMD's staff, students and industry supporters as well as seeing what is happening at one of the fore

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Spain - We Will Rock You, the hit musical from Queen and Ben Elton, opened its third production at the Teatro Calderon in Madrid last November. Produced and directed by Luis Alvarez and lit by award-winning LD Willie Williams, with a rig supplied by Fourth Phase. Set design is by Mark Fisher and sound design by Bobby Aitken, formerly of Autograph but now freelance.

Williams, best known for his work in the music industry, most notably his close and ongoing collaboration with U2, revised his designs for the London and Melbourne productions after lighting We Will Rock You in Madrid. The rig uses a range of kit from manufacturers including ETC, Martin Professional, High End Systems and DHA Lighting.

Fourth Phase London supplied the lighting, along with full technical support and backup. Martin Chisnall - the production electrician from the London show - oversaw the Madrid installa

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UK - Giant video screen specialist Graham Burgess has launched displayLED, a giant video screen brokerage for all aspects of the business from the sale of previously-owned screens - an as yet untapped section of the market, say the company - to new screens and rental projects. The company's business hub is its website (address below), which went live on 1 February and carries details of screens available for purchase, as well as advice and background information to help potential buyers in their choice.

displayLED is independent of any screen manufacturer and will be able to offer purchasers a choice of many different manufacturers and models, advising impartially on the best model for a particular application, the most appropriate previously-owned screen for price-sensitive ventures, and bring the right people together for rental projects.

"The combined experience within

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Crest Performance, a division of Crest Audio, kicked off a swathe of install products with the 4-channel, 6-input CJ/4 desktop DJ mixer. The CJ/4 allows DJs to listen to their effects on both the cue and main signal in their headphones before sending them to the main outputs.

The rotary-style CP-6210 program music mixer, an update of classic mixer designs, and its companion CP-6220 expander/crossfader, use the same components found in Crest Audio's top-of-the-range FOH consoles. Both are designed for use in either installation or portable applications such as nightclubs, DJ racks, restaurants and rental rigs.

The CPS-1203 is a full-spectrum enhancement system that produces strong low end, while adding clarity and definition to most audio sources. Applications range from individual mixer channels to live mixes of pre-recorded audio.

The CPT Series of loudspeakers claim "crisp h

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UK - Currently breaking box office records at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Trevor Nunn's acclaimed National Theatre production of the Cole Porter musical comedy Anything Goes has extended its booking period yet again. Having recently transferred to the West End, the production originally opened in the Olivier Theatre at the National where it picked up the prestigious 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production.

Set design is particularly impressive, with the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - one of London's largest stages - filled with John Gunter's recreation of an Atlantic liner. Since the production's transfer, Stage Technologies has taken over the automation for the show, providing revolve and a hand-held Saxis controller.

Since its launch last year, the Saxis has proved a popular addition to the rental department, having already been used to control si

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JBL announced the introduction of the budget JRX100 series "for musicians, DJs and other users of live sound reinforcement speakers", and anyone who might truly appreciate a new dual-angle pole socket. This allows the speaker to be mounted either vertically or with a 10° down angle - aiming for more audience and less reflective wall.

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The Verona series has been designed by the team responsible for the Heritage 3000 and XL4, and comprises six models ranging from 24 up to 64 inputs with all the features and components associated with the brand. It has a new mic amp design with high CMR performance, and every channel offers swept 4-band EQ. The rigid chassis is built for both touring and fixed installation.

The consoles are configurable for either FOH or monitor use, the Group/Aux changeover switch allowing the choice of any combination of the aux outputs to be controlled via a 100mm fader including insert point. This flexibility is supported by the front panel Aux EQ defeat switch - when pressed, any auxes assigned pre fader will be sent pre EQ.

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Acclaimed lighting designer Rory Dempster passed away on 7 February. A pioneering lighting designer, Rory worked with Andy Phillips at the Royal Court in London during the 1960s and 1970s, establishing the Court's 'white light' principle - that nothing was more important on the stage than the actor's face. During this time, Rory worked with some of the best playwrights of the day, including Trevor Griffiths, Michael Frayn, Howard Brenton, Athol Fugard and David Hare. He could also change style when the show demanded, such as in his design for the Royal Court's original production of The Rocky Horror Show.

A lover of theatre, Rory subsequently became involved in projects beyond the Royal Court: he was a founding partner of lighting rental company White Light; he was part of the team that created the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith; he was deeply involved with Field Day in Northe

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With a mix of new blood and old hands at the company, and a big push into Europe, Furman expanded its line of Balanced Power products with the high-end IT-Reference model into the IT-Series. A variation of the IT-1220, IT-Reference has individual windings which provide total isolation for each set of outlets. It also includes unique Power Correction Circuitry which gives power amplifiers and powered speakers more powerful dynamics with a speed and clarity unattainable with normal wall power. Additionally, the soundstage is deepened, widened and focused.

The PL-8 and PL-Plus Series II Power conditioners feature Furman's Series Mode Protection (SMP) circuit and Linear Filter Technology (LiFT), comprising advanced and comprehensive transient voltage surge suppressor technology.

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Audio-Technica's Midnight Blues range of microphones (pictured right) for vocals and instruments begat a new generation, based on the original series, with four new mics featuring high-output and low handling noise via proprietorial anti-shock engineering. Each is of all-metal construction.

The four models are: the MB1k unidirectional dynamic vocal mic; MB2k unidirectional dynamic instrument mic; MB3k unidirectional dynamic vocal mic; and MB4k cardioid condenser mic. The MB2k, MB3k, and MB4k have a soft-touch finish for a secure grip and low mechanical noise, plus a protective pouch to store or transport the mic. All models are available with an optional (15ft) XLRM cable.

The MB1k is designed for lead, backing or choral vocals, featuring Audio-Technica's 'Hi-Energy' neodymium magnet structure for maximum output and fast transient response, 'Magna-Lock' switch design for silent on-

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The IAG Group showed current models of Wharfedale's EVP-S, VS, LixC and Systems products, presenting them in detail to new and existing dealers to consolidate the work carried out by the reps over the past year. Newer models include the electronic-based PM System, PM mixers, MP power amps and BX mixers.

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It began with Midas. The very fact that Midas chose this year's winter NAMM show to mount the worldwide launch of the Verona console indicated two things. Firstly, the company's redoubtable management duo of Dave Cooper and David Wiggins will use any platform to dress up in costume and do a 'turn'. This time around, it was as The Blues Brothers, somewhat strangely but engagingly rubbing shoulders with character lookalikes from The Matrix who patrolled the ceiling - it was the Xelias Aerial Acrobatic Company, after all - even as Elmore and Jake took the floor.

Secondly, significant sound reinforcement product announcements are now as much a part of this show as they are of Frankfurt's ProLight+Sound beano - which itself grew out of the MusikMesse's MI roots. Perhaps NAMM - busier this year than for several - could begin to steal a march on the German show's pro audio pretensions, as a p

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